6-10 years? Really?

[Gamma]

I was thumbing through the Keystone owners manual one night and came across this.

“Most studies indicate that tires should be replaced, regardless of tread depth, when they are between 6-10 years old.”

I have always been a 5 year advocate but manufacturers usually take a “cover your ass” attitude when it comes to maintenance. This is an odd finding.

Not going to be an issue as we usually do multi month, multi thousand mile trips every 3rd year and new rubber goes on first.

[notanlines]

You, rather than the manufacturer, are correct.

[Stircrazy]

Originally Posted by Gamma

I was thumbing through the Keystone owners manual one night and came across this.

“Most studies indicate that tires should be replaced, regardless of tread depth, when they are between 6-10 years old.”

I have always been a 5 year advocate but manufacturers usually take a “cover your ass” attitude when it comes to maintenance. This is an odd finding.

Not going to be an issue as we usually do multi month, multi thousand mile trips every 3rd year and new rubber goes on first.

It also depends where you live and the road you drive on. My first 3 rv's I owned for 10 years each and only had one blow out and that was right at the 10 year mark, my current 5th wheel I have had one blow out at 6 years but that was due to a road hazard. Nonetheless I did change all my tires this year so 7 years on it as I had two other tires showing signs of tread separation and I didn't want to take the chance.

[TXiceman]

I run high quality and lightly loaded tires for 5 to a maximum of 6 years. So far, no separations or blow outs. I look at good tires as insurance. Look at the cost of a shredded tire when it blows as well as the potential damage to the RV plus the down time getting it repaired. The damage can run into thousands of dollars.

Run your tires over 5 or 6 years and gamble. I am not a gambler.

Ken

[spade117]

I think everyone's situation is different. If numerous miles are being put on the tires (and/or they sit in the sun quite a bit), they should be changed more often. And I agree that changing them sooner is better than waiting.

We have not done any out of state trips so far. Our longest round trip is usually no more than 500 miles. Just finished up the 6th camping season with this trailer and its original tires. I've put on about 8200 miles in 6 years (I keep a spreadsheet that tracks things). One of the tires needed to be changed at 1500 miles due to a flat at a campground. I also keep the tires covered 80-90% of the time when it sits at home.

[JRTJH]

Just my opinion, but the damage caused by a tire blowout at 65MPH when 25 miles from home is the same damage you'd expect on a tire blowout at 65MPH if it happened 2500 miles from home. In other words, the distance of each trip really has no bearing on whether you're more or less likely to have a blowout.

That said, here's photos of my "china bombs" from several years ago. The tires were 3 years old, and were "in the beginning stages of catastrophic tire failure". It was impossible to detect the "tread/carcass separation" when the tires were mounted on the wheels. Three of four tires had the same condition, so it wasn't a "fluke one time occurrence" but rather it was a "multi-tire bomb about to explode". My tires were always aired up correctly, covered when outside, stored inside in my pole barn and sprayed with Goodyear 303 after every trailer wash, never towed faster than 65MPH and never overloaded.

Yes, this is a "double whammy", both the brand of tire with a "P-poor reputation" and an age related (you can't count on 5 or 6 or 10 years before a problem occurs) whammy.....

Using "Keystone's lowest bidder tires" is a risk to begin with and then using them for multi-year towing, IMO, increases that risk exponentially.. YMMV, but looking at the photos below, is it really worth the $8,000 repair cost to use the OEM china bombs that you can replace with quality tires for $500??? Even with "good insurance to pay for the repairs", your $500 deductible will equal the price of the better quality tires and you won't be out the use of your trailer for the rest of the season...

It's purely a personal choice, one that could have "multi-thousand dollar implications".....

[spade117]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Just my opinion, but the damage caused by a tire blowout at 65MPH when 25 miles from home is the same damage you'd expect on a tire blowout at 65MPH if it happened 2500 miles from home. In other words, the distance of each trip really has no bearing on whether you're more or less likely to have a blowout.

I don't disagree with that. The point I was making was about milage on the tires and showing why our overall milage was fairly low (compared to others) and nothing to do with how far away from home we are.

[dutchmensport]

6-10 years (I thought this was going to be a post on a prison sentence for a crime that deserved "life!") Oh well.

Yep, use your own best judgment on your tires. You are the one riding on them, not the manufacturers! Regardless of how they look, or what is written down, you are your best judge.

[fjr vfr]

Date on these tires is 22/20, (ww/year)
Would anyone trust the tire in the second image? It's a little hard to see in the picture, but in person it looks round like a motorcycle tire. I noticed on my tpms the pressure about 8psi lower than the other 3 as we were getting ready to move.
These are the Goodyear tires everyone loves. I bet if I hadn't removed it and replaced it with one of my 2 spares, before reaching our next destination it would have removed itself and not in a very pleasant way. I'll be replacing all 4 soon. Just about 3 years for these. I'm going to guess we put about 15,000 miles on them in that time.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

Date on these tires is 22/20, (ww/year)
Would anyone trust the tire in the second image? It's a little hard to see in the picture, but in person it looks round like a motorcycle tire. I noticed on my tpms the pressure about 8psi lower than the other 3 as we were getting ready to move.
These are the Goodyear tires everyone loves. I bet if I hadn't removed it and replaced it with one of my 2 spares, before reaching our next destination it would have removed itself and not in a very pleasant way. I'll be replacing all 4 soon. Just about 3 years for these. I'm going to guess we put about 15,000 miles on them in that time.

Attachment 45487

Attachment 45488

For me the Endurance is not a proven tire. It came out in 2017 and some immediately began touting how good it was. That doesn't mean it had a track record it just meant it was expensive (and still is). Since it came out there have been quite a few reports of failures of the tire which is concerning for such a new tire. Goodyear's hype and high price would lead one to believe the Endurance was a much improved tire over the Marathon which killed their trailer tire reputation...and maybe it is; how good is yet to be determined IMO. Their track record will have to improve before I buy a set though.

[fjr vfr]

My previous tires were Maxxis m8008. I didn’t have any issues with them.
It’s hard to know which is the best? Maybe I’ll go back to the Maxxis again?

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

My previous tires were Maxxis m8008. I didn’t have any issues with them.
It’s hard to know which is the best? Maybe I’ll go back to the Maxxis again?

The reason (in my opinion) that Maxxis trailer tires fell from popularity is their "refusal" or "reluctance" to increase the speed rating from 65 MPH. While it's maybe not a "huge factor for most" it is a "back of the mind consideration" for most people... Just the thought of "I can buy tires rated at 87MPH or I can buy tires rated at 65MPH for the same price with the same reputation, which is the better buy?" .....

When I had my recalled Marathons replaced due to blowouts on our Holiday Rambler, and two of the the replacements blew out on the way home, the dealer told me about Maxxis, he said they were the "Michelins of trailer tires". We put 4 on the trailer and I never had another tire problem. So, I'm a Maxxis fan.

To me, Carlisle outshines Maxxis on the speed factor. All other things being equal, if Maxxis increased their speed rating, I'd have some "serious comparisons" to make before buying new tires the next time.

[fjr vfr]

One more possible consideration would be comparing size to brand. I run15” 225/75 tires so I wonder if the best tire brand for that size would still be the best in another size?
Am I reading Carlisle seems to be the favorite overall?
I have thought about going to 16” wheels maybe it would be a good time to consider switch since I’ll be replacing the tires?

[sourdough]

Another consideration on Maxxis is their availability. In my area very few if any tire shops carry Maxxis so they are a special order thing. Also if I'm stranded somewhere I guess I could go with a different brand, and have had to do that, but I much prefer being able to get the same brand/size/type.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

One more possible consideration would be comparing size to brand. I run15” 225/75 tires so I wonder if the best tire brand for that size would still be the best in another size?
Am I reading Carlisle seems to be the favorite overall?
I have thought about going to 16” wheels maybe it would be a good time to consider switch since I’ll be replacing the tires?

I considered the same option when I upgraded from 4400 pound axles to 6000 pound axles on my Cougar. My concern with upsizing to 16" wheels was the 33" wheelbase on my trailer suspension (the measurement from axle spindle to axle spindle). If I had 35" wheelbase, I'd probably already have 16" LRE tires on the trailer. That would have been an "automatic 2760 pounds of tire capacity" with less RPM's on the bearings, both good things.

IMO, on the 33" wheelbase, having 4.9" between tires is comfortable, upgrading to 16" wheels/235 80R16 tires decreases that to 2.2". While "doable" that's not much clearance if anything might happen to a tread on either tire. If I had a "wide axle suspension" or even a 35" wheelbase, I'd already have 16" wheels and tires on my Cougar.

[fjr vfr]

Interesting I just checked and I have the same 33” wheel base. My trailer came with 5,200 lbs axles The rear is a 6000 lbs axle after a bearing issue a couple years ago tweaked the spindle of the original
And the tire availability is a good point all else being equal.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by fjr vfr

Interesting I just checked and I have the same 33” wheel base. My trailer came with 5,200 lbs axles The rear is a 6000 lbs axle after a bearing issue a couple years ago tweaked the spindle of the original
And the tire availability is a good point all else being equal.

My OEM axles were rated at 4400 pounds each. In reality, they were Lippert 5200 pound axles "derated by Keystone" so they could use the 225 75R15 LRE tires and add the "fudge factor pin weight" to keep the tires the cheapest they could fit on the axles. The "games" all the manufacturers play to keep the cost of parts down gets most of us in a risky situation sooner or later. Mine was when I "thought" that my axles were "really 5200 pound rating and Keystone paperworked them lower"... Maybe they did, maybe Lippert, knowing what they were going to be installed under, skimped on parts that met 4400 pounds but not 5200 pounds ?????

Who knows what WAS really under the trailer. I can attest that now, there's really 6000 pound Dexter axles built by Dexter with spring perches installed and welded by a separate axle supply house (custom built to match my hub face/spring perch measurements) and shipped to me with axle certification labels that state the 6000 pound rating. The "OEM stuff" had a 5200 pound part number but a Lippert certification label of 4400 pounds, so who knows what was really inside them.

I'd really, REALLY like to have 16" wheels and the additional tire rating, but when I can't fit a gloved hand between the tires to change them without getting "pinched" then IMO, the tires are just too close together...

[fjr vfr]

Yeah I agree with you about it all in general. Though my oem axles were Dexter 5200 lbs but like you say who knows how much you can trust them.
Btw the 6000 lbs axle uses castle nuts and cotter keys while the oem axle uses those spring compression clips to keep the bearing nut from unscrewing
I don’t fully trust them especially on the left side were there is more of a danger of the nut unscrewing if it fails. I suspect that is what happened a couple years ago with the bearing failure on that axle and side. I can’t prove it beyond a doubt since everything was so trashed
I assume your 6000 lbs axles use castle nuts?

[JRTJH]

Yes, the "spring nut clips" on the Lippert 4400 pound axles and castle nuts with cotter pins on the Dexter 6000 pound axles that I installed.

You mentioned that your "failed hub" was on the left side. So was mine. Fortunately for me, it "self destructed" just after we pulled through the campground check in hut and crossed the first speed hump in the road (maybe 15' beyond the hut). So, we had no significant damage, but we had just pulled off of I-96 where we had been towing at 70MPH. I still think of just how lucky we were with that timing.

Here's photos of the damage we ended up with.

[fjr vfr]

Yeah that looks very much like mine did. Since the wheels on the left are turning in the direction to unscrew the nut it is more likely to fail if the retainer doesn’t hold the nut in place.
When it happened to me we were about 80 miles east of OKC returning home during the Covid pandemic
Nothing was open and I was lucky to find a shop in OKC that could help. I had to drive 80 miles on one wheel as I had to remove the wheel from the failed axle I did it at 20 mph and I over inflated the remaining tire to compensate
It seems no matter how well you prepare there’s always something to go wrong This year it’s tires so far…fingers crossed